I had a sample of this that I’d planned to make over a couple of tastings, but it ended up as an unintentional sipdown. I was making 3 cups in the Breville and that left only enough for about one more cup so I figured what the heck. Adding it to the count of sipdowns for 2014. This is no. 14 for 2014.

It was in my “soon to be tasted” box of samples, which means it was not kept away from light as it should have been, particularly given the clear plastic bag it came in. I am not sure how that affected it. I didn’t get aroma from the dry leaf-I just smelled the sample bag’s plastic, so my guess is it had a negative effect.

The leaves, being FBOP, are small and brownish. Fairly uniform in size, shape and color and pretty to look at. The tea steeps to a pretty, orange-brown tea color. The leaves were a bit too fine for the Breville filter and some made their way into the tea and settled at the bottom of the cup.

There’s a subtle aroma that actually strikes me as a little fruity, rather more than flowery. In taste, it’s light and a little fruity. Not full bodied but pleasant, definitely a more appealing taste than what Americans have been raised to think of as “orange pekoe.” I’m glad I got the chance to try it though for plain blacks I find a richer flavor more to my liking.

I didn’t get to try it iced, but I think that could be its sweet spot.

ETA: Peanut number 2 asked to sniff this and then to taste it and proclaimed “I love it!” I added a bit of sweetener to mine and found it opened up the flavor quite a bit. I should also add that the mouthfeel on this one is nice. It has some thickness to it that I wouldn’t expect given the body of the tea.

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Bio

I’ve updated this bio as it’s been a couple of years since I “started getting into” tea. It’s now more accurate to say that I was obsessed with tea for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it, and I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

Personal biases: I much prefer to drink tea without additives such as milk and sugar. If a tea needs additives to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’m going to rate it high. The exception is chai, which I make on the stove top using a recipe I found here on Steepster. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs into the harder stuff, but once I learned how to make a decent cup of tea they became far less appealing to me. That said, I’m not entirely a purist, and I enjoy a good flavored tea, particularly flavored blacks.

I like all kinds of tea depending on time of day, mood, and the amount of time I have to pay attention to preparation.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. I’m revising them slightly to make them less granular as I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas against other similar versions. So I rate Earl Greys, for example, against other Earl Greys, rather than against all teas. If something rates very high with me, though, it probably means it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is; will keep this stocked until the cows come home

90-94 First rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Excellent; likely to become a favorite, will likely buy more

70-79 Very good; would enjoy again, might buy again if in the mood for this particular one or a better, similar version not available